/godot-auditor

Aurelius Protocol: State Machine Advanced NEVER List

• NEVER forget to propagate physics/input to children — In an HSM, failing to call child.physics_update() from the parent's _physics_process orphans child logic.
• NEVER use deep nesting (>3 levels) — Extreme hierarchy creates "State Spaghetti." If logic is that complex, consider a Behavior Tree or Utility AI.
• NEVER call enter() without a preceding exit() — Skipping exit logic leaves timers, tweens, or audio loops running in the background, causing resource leaks.
• NEVER modify state during a transition frame — Re-entrant transition_to() calls inside enter() cause recursion crashes. Use call_deferred if immediate sub-transitioning is required.
• NEVER hardcode state names as strings — Typos like transition_to("Idel") are silent killers. Use class_name based checks OR Constants.
• NEVER use global singletons for state data — Coupling states to GameManager.player_health makes them non-reusable. Pass a Context object.
• NEVER push states indefinitely — In a Pushdown Automaton, every push_state MUST have a retirement plan (pop_state) to avoid stack overflow.
• NEVER assume state re-entry is always a fresh start — Resuming from a stack pop should often bypass "Entry SFX/VFX"; use re-entry flags.